Temporal Disturbances and Jelly Babies
by CommaConcept
Summary: The title says it all. Surely Romana, as President of Gallifrey, would have been taken to safety when they started losing the war? This fanfic says so, anyway. DoctorRomana. Bad summary, so please read on and experience the writing for itself.
1. Temporal Disturbances and Jelly Babies

**Disclaimer: Doctor Who belongs to the BBC, not me. Rydell is an OC, all other characters belong to the BBC. **

**Please bear with this fanfiction. Not everything can be explained in one chapter. I swear it will all be explained in time. If you're really desperate, you can PM me and I will answer your questions provided they aren't being kept secret for plot reasons. **

**Chapter 1 : Temporal Disturbances and Jelly Babies**

The room was very quiet, even considering there were hardly any people inside. Two, as a matter of fact, which meant everybody on board was in the room. The ship itself was not that large, but it seemed empty to its few occupants. It was designed for a crew of eight to ten, and although two could pilot it successfully, it wasn't advisable.

Nevertheless, that was what they had been forced to do. There had been no time to organise a full crew. Just her, and someone to act as her protector. They had left immediately, just as an explosion had destroyed the entire citadel. The ship had escaped just in time, but the two of them knew nothing of it until later.

They knew now. They had known since that morning, when Rydell had finally got the scanner working. At first, they had thought it faulty, but now they knew the truth. It was gone. Not just the citadel, but the entire planet. Romana had not spoken since.

Rydell had not been too bothered about this, and had used the time to continue working in peace for once. Of course he had been upset at the destruction of the planet, but he tried not to let it show. He was the sole companion of President Romana, and he felt he had to be strong for her sake. Even if she had ignored him ever since and cried for three hours without stopping, he would not ask her what was wrong. He assumed she would rather he ignored her unprofessionalism. She had a reputation to upkeep, as did he.

So when she finally spoke up, Rydell jumped. "Would you like a jelly baby?" she asked.

He stared at her, wondering if the President had finally cracked. "Would I like a what?"

"A jelly baby." When Rydell gave no reply, she elaborated further. "They're a kind of sweet. From Earth."

"Oh." He paused for a moment. "No thank you."

Romana shrugged and popped a red one in her mouth before getting up and strolling across the room to where Rydell was sat by the console. "What are you working on this time?"

It was the slightly bored tone with which the question was asked that made Rydell answer somewhat defensively. "I'm trying to restore the hyper-dimensional neutraliser. There's an energy impulse being directed at the ship that it can't seem to shake off."

"Is the temporal reflector not screening us from the impulse?"

"Evidently not. The temporal disturbance is too powerful for the shielding systems to counter," Rydell explained, trying his hardest to keep the patronising tone from his voice. It was clear the President hadn't a clue about how to prevent primary systems from malfunctioning. He doubted she even knew what a stalos gyro was.

Romana frowned for a moment, her eyes darting back and forth across the screen as she read the complicated stream of code Rydell had been inputting. She paused for a moment. "Are you _sure_ you don't want a jelly baby?"


	2. Problems Onboard

**A short chapter, I know. I'll update Chapter Three soon though, my dears. For all...two of my fans. Three if you count the person who added the story but left no review! Please review, dears! My heart breaks if I don't get enough reviews, and I only have two. And now to the story:**

* * *

**Chapter 2: Problems Onboard**

Rydell glared at her. "Yes, I am quite sure. Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." He turned away from her and continued typing.

Romana watched him working for a while. The monitor hummed gently as he typed, but otherwise there was silence. Just then, the computer gave a loud whirring noise, and another window popped up onscreen. "What does that mean?" Romana asked. "Have you fixed it?"

"No, I haven't," Rydell replied testily. "I can't fix it until I know precisely what's tracking us." He was fed up with the President's incessant questions, and it was starting to show.

Romana paused. "Oh." She was aware the officer was becoming more and more irate. Deciding to leave him to it, she walked away from the mainframe computer and exited the room.

The ship was not large. It housed five rooms – the control room, bathroom, kitchen, and two bedrooms. Romana had been particularly pleased to discover this last point, as she doubted she would have been able to sleep knowing Officer Rydell was in the same room. She had not known him for more than a month, and trust had not yet developed between them.

She headed into her bedroom, passing Rydell's on the way. His was neat and orderly. Hers was something of a mess. She picked up a book from the floor and replaced it on the shelf before throwing herself onto the bed. The pillow was still damp from that morning, so she flipped it over and lay on the dry side instead. How long she lay there, she didn't know. There was no clock in her room (or indeed anywhere on board; what was the point when time in Voidspace behaved differently from real space anyway?), so it might have been hours or just minutes. Regardless, she didn't get up until Rydell called her name.

"President Romana!" There was a note of urgency in his voice. Romana dragged herself out of bed and hurried into the main room. "I've identified the target," he told her quickly, smiling for the first time since he had come onboard.

Romana looked at him for a moment, unsure why this was something to be pleased about. "Is it an enemy ship?" she asked tentatively.

Rydell shook his head. "No, President. Quite the opposite, in fact. The signature code is that of a Type 40 TARDIS."


	3. Problems Offboard

**Here you are, my dears. A nice long chapter, and updated a little quicker than the others (my average is two days). I'm writing the fourth chapter right now, so you'll see that within 48 hours. Isn't that nice of me? A nice cliffhanger, as well, or so I think. As always, read and review to let me know what you think. I always pay attention and often respond, as proved by this longer chapter. I must go now, to write the next chapter. Au revoir!**

**Chapter 3: Problems off-board**

She stared at him for a moment in disbelief. "But that means…someone else survived?"

Rydell nodded. "I'm attempting to make contact as we speak," he informed her, "but it isn't going well. This ship wasn't equipped to handle the limited audio-visual capacity of a Type 40."

"They've good enough ships," Romana retorted, a little stung. "A little out of date, perhaps, but essentially reliable."

He snorted. "President, you are aware the only experience you have of a Type 40 was one with a broken chameleon circuit?"

Pink tinged Romana's cheeks. "Broken chameleon circuit or not, without that TARDIS, I wouldn't be here now."

"No," Rydell snapped. "You'd be safe and sound back on Gallifrey if it weren't for that TARDIS and its blasted owner." The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Romana's face went pale. There was an awkward pause, interrupted by the beep of another window cropping up onscreen. "Link established," Rydell informed her quietly.

"Establish audio-visual connection," Romana told him briskly, her voice edgier than it had been previously. Rydell complied, entering the code to establish the connection as requested. The window onscreen was now showing a blurry, pixelated image of what appeared to be the interior of the Type 40. There were no visible occupants.

"This is President Romanadvoratrelundar of Gallifrey speaking," Romana announced through the loudspeaker. "State your reasons for locking and tracking this Voidship."

The computer crackled in reply for a moment as the message was relayed into normal space. Even when the reply came at last, it was so distorted that Romana had to tell Rydell to play it back four times before she could understand it.

"Romana, it's the Doctor. The TARDIS automatically locked onto your signal. Come out of Voidspace immediately. There are--" Here the message became so distorted that Rydell shook his head when Romana asked him to play it for a fifth time.

"There's a second energy impulse interfering with systems," he told her. "This one's coming from close-range, within Voidspace. It's accelerating too quickly for the ship's systems to react." Panic entered his voice. "President, the ship's specification has 98.9 percent compatibility with the last known design of Dalek Voidship."

Romana spoke quickly. "Enter normal space, Rydell. Now!"

Rydell took a moment to register her command. It was a moment they could not afford to lose. An explosion shook the ship. "Shields down by 20 percent," Rydell said as the ship rocked again.

"Rydell!" Romana shouted above the ensuing chaos. Sparks flew from the mainframe computer. "Return to normal space!"

He shook his head frantically. "They've latched onto the outer hull, President. We can't re-enter normal space without taking them with us! Shields down by 50 percent!"

"Rydell!" Romana yelled. "Do you have the Doctor's co-ordinates?"

"Yes!" he shouted. "But I fail to see what--"

"Enter them into the computer!" Romana was screaming by this point. Flames had erupted from where the sparks had made contact with trailing wires.

Rydell paused amidst the frenzy. "This is crazy! We can't drag a Dalek Voidship into normal space, it's too dangerous!"

A warning that the shields were down by 90 percent and now using auxiliary power flashed up on the screen of the computer. "Officer Rydell, this is a direct command from your President! Enter normal space now or we're dead!"

Another message flashed on the computer, warning them that all shields had been lost. Rydell had never typed in a set of co-ordinates so quickly.

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It took less than a second for the ship to process the co-ordinates and return to normal space, but nobody was counting. As Rydell had pointed out, the other Voidship was indeed still locked onto theirs, and was continuing its attack.

With all shields down, the damage was catastrophic. Most of the central console was up in flames; the rest was still sparking dangerously. Even part of the outer hull had been breached, although luckily the oxygen field was still contained (just about).

"If they keep attacking, we're dead!" Rydell shouted. "What was the point in returning to normal space? Another direct hit and this ship will blow anyway!" The ludicrosity of the situation finally dawned on him. "Our lives depend on the help of a Type 40 TARDIS, which has no weapons or external defence mechanisms whatsoever!"

Romana opened her mouth to reply just as the ship gave an almighty lurch. There was a shriek that might have come from Romana or Rydell – it was difficult to tell among the chaos. The ship turned ninety degrees, and the sparking wires slid precariously down the wall, or rather the floor. Rydell clung onto the inbuilt console for support. Romana, who had no such thing near her to hold onto, landed with a thud on the floor which had previously been a wall. Everything faded to black.


	4. Old Friends, New Enemies

**The chapter title gives it away a bit, doesn't it? I'm sure you'll enjoy the chapter anyway, dears. Also, I wrote so much yesterday that I already have the next chapter sitting in front of me. If I get enough reviews, I might be tempted to update tonight. If not, you'll have to wait until tomorrow.**

**Is this shameless bribery to get people to read my story? Why yes, I suppose it is. So go and tell your friends about it.**

**Chapter 4: Old Friends, New Enemies**

Romana woke up the following morning (or at least, she assumed it was morning) with a splitting headache. Her vision was blurry and it hurt whenever she tried to think. When at last her eyes managed to focus on her surroundings, she realised she could no longer be on the Voidship, whichever way the walls might have been turned. The room she was in was rather different from anything she had seen before.

"I've redecorated." Romana looked to her left and realised someone was sitting there. Her immediate thoughts were that he looked fairly decent, with brown hair that stuck out at odd angles and blue eyes that twinkled mischievously. His dress sense could be better, as proved by the pinstripe suit he was wearing, but nobody was perfect. He grinned at her.

Romana's head swam for a moment, and again her vision went blurry. By the time it cleared, she was painfully aware of who the man sitting next to her was. "Doctor," she stated. "You're alive."

His grin widened. "Romana, so are you. Just about."

She frowned at him. "Whatever do you mean?"

"Well," he started, before getting distracted by a crash in another room. "I have to go, um, sort that out. Don't get up yet." She leaned on her elbows to try and sit up, but he pushed her gently back down again. "No really, don't. Just stay there until I get back." He dashed out of the room, leaving Romana feeling more than a little confused.

----------------------------

The crash had been caused by a large heavy object falling from the shelf on which it had been placed long ago. The Doctor looked it over briefly to check for any damage. He was pleased to find there was none, although seeing as he had no clue what the object actually was, it was difficult to explain how he could know if it was broken or not. He placed it back on the shelf, a little further away from the edge this time, and returned to the room Romana was in.

When he returned, she was still lying down. He guessed by her mildly confused expression that she hadn't tried to get up again yet. "So," she asked, "why is it that I'm not allowed to get up, exactly?"

"Shock," the Doctor responded. "You've been unconscious for a while; let your body deal with that first."

Romana nodded, and as she did so noticed a flicker of black out of the corner of her eye. She went to touch her hair, but the Doctor pulled her hand gently away. "Just lie still," he instructed. "You can get up in a few minutes or so."

"Doctor, have I regenerated?" He avoided her eye. "Doctor! Have I regenerated or not?"

The Doctor pulled a face. "Well, um…yes, pretty much." He ran his fingers through his hair. "That's why you shouldn't get up yet, it'll come as a shock."

His words did nothing to ease Romana's mind. She hesitated for a moment. "I've got a really big nose now, haven't I?"

"No! It's fine."

She felt her nose with her fingers, running her hand over the smooth contours of her face. "It's huge!" she gasped. "I knew it!"

"It's smaller than your old one," the Doctor pointed out. It was the wrong thing to say, and he knew it immediately. "I mean, it's tiny. Really," he reassured her, "it's…it's cute."

"Cute?" she raised an eyebrow.

"What's cute?" Rydell asked, entering the room. He caught sight of Romana and froze. "President, you've…"

"She knows," the Doctor told him.

Romana nodded. "Is there a mirror anywhere, Doctor?"

"There's one in the next room." Romana left to see her latest incarnation for herself, leaving Rydell and the Doctor alone in the room.

Rydell glared at him. "I don't trust you, and I don't like you."

"The feeling's mutual," the Doctor shot back.


	5. Emotions Revealed

**It's been a while. Too long, far too long. I'm sorry, dears. I've been rather busy with work and what-not. Anyhow, the next chapter is up, written just for you. I apologetically remind you that the next chapter might be a while, though hopefully not as long as the gap between this chapter and the last one, as I have not written it yet, and have very little clue as to what will happen. Ideas are welcomed. In the mean time, here goes:**

Chapter Four: Emotions revealed…and other things besides

Romana paused in front of the mirror. Her new appearance was not an improvement as such, although it was certainly a change. Her skin was a bit paler, her cheeks less rosy, and her eyes a slightly brighter blue. It was the hair which made the change so obvious. It was roughly the same length as it had been before, but black where it had been blonde, wavy where it had been straight. Romana looked down at the robes she was still wearing and realised that they now clashed horribly with her hair.

She left the room with the mirror and peered through the doorway of the room beside it. The Doctor and Rydell were glaring mutinously at each other. Satisfied that at least they weren't attempting to murder each other, Romana left them once more and tried to remember where the wardrobe had been last time she had been onboard the TARDIS.

It was not a particularly wise decision to leave Rydell and the Doctor in each other's company; having said this, it was probably better that she was out of earshot at this point.

"You're the Doctor, then?" Rydell asked, narrowing his eyes at the younger-looking man standing opposite him.

"That's what they call me," the Doctor replied.

Rydell offered him a smug grin. "I heard there isn't anything else _to_ call you."

"That's neither here nor there," the Doctor said sharply. Rydell looked as if he was about to give another scathing comment, so the Doctor quickly interrupted. "And what name might an arrogant pomp like you go by?"

"The President calls me Officer Rydell." His chest swelled noticeably with pride as he mentioned he was an officer.

The Doctor raised an eyebrow. "Well then, _officer_, you'd do well to remember that on this ship you are the lowest ranking."

"I hardly think that a doctor is a higher rank than—"

"This is my ship," the Doctor interrupted. "Which makes me captain, _officer_." Rydell glared venomously at him. "I might also remind you that if I hadn't intervened with that Dalek Voidship earlier, you wouldn't be here."

"And how exactly did you dispose of it?" Rydell hissed. "Did you blow it up like you did Gallifrey? Did you watch it burning, Doctor?"

The Doctor was looking at Rydell with a mixture of horror and fury, neither of which seemed to faze him. "Now listen here, Doctor, I don't care what sway you have over the President, I answer to her and her alone! You do not control me, you cannot order me around, and I most certainly will not be intimidated by you!"

He paused to catch his breath just as Romana entered the room. She was wearing a soft blue blazer-like jacket over a plain white shirt and a beige skirt which came a bit further than halfway down her thigh. Some of her hair had been carefully twisted into two neat braids either side of her head, making her look vaguely like a schoolgirl on class picture day.

For a moment, Rydell forgot to exhale. He and the Doctor had both forgotten their argument, momentarily speechless at the sight of Romana in her latest outfit.

She saw their expressions and frowned. "The skirt isn't _that_ short, is it?"


End file.
